TNN

New Delhi, Mar 3: After months of slowdown, car and bike sales seem to be revving up with February numbers showing double-digit growth for almost all major companies. Market leaders Maruti and Hero Honda were among the gainers in the month, prompting analysts to hope that the worst may be over for the auto sector.

"The sales are on a recovery path and we are confident that the momentum would be maintained," Maruti's executive officer (marketing and sales) Mayank Pareek told TOI. Government's move to cut excise and interest rates which has made financing affordable has acted as a booster dose.

In February, Maruti reported its highest-ever retail numbers at 70,625 units against 59,311 units in the same month last year, a growth of 19%. And its bread-and-butter small car portfolio, comprising models like Alto, Wagon-R, Zen, Swift and A-star, managed a 14% growth. Pareek said fuel price cuts have acted as a positive factor. “So not only did cars become affordable to buy, but they also became affordable to run,” he said.

An important recovery was that of Tata Motors that has been struggling for the last few months. Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle numbers managed a growth of 1.5% at 19,039 units in February, the first positive month for the company after October last year.

“While the financial stimulus announced by t he government, particularly for commercial vehicles, has had a positive impact, the retail market would still take some time to reach the corresponding period levels of the last fiscal,” the company said.

Hyundai saw numbers going down 13.5% in January, but had a good month as its numbers grew 45% at 21,215 units in February. Honda Siel saw a growth of 48%. “February numbers are encouraging, but we have to remember that this is on a low base. February is usually a low sales month as customers and dealers prefer to postpone purchases on hopes of a duty cut in the Budget. This was not the case this year,” said Jnaneswar Sen, Marketing V-P for Honda Siel Cars India.